And that smuggling has been going on for generations. Quite possibly the same route/product was handed down from grandfather to father to grandson. But considering how open it is, perhaps "teamster" would be more appropriate than "smuggler."

At least those heavy loads have wheels. I was amazed to see rig hands in Guatemala cart 100 pound sacks on their shoulders, given that many of the rig hands were all of 5'2".

Quite possibly JM and her family knew of the song when they were in Venezuela, even though it was a hit way back in 1960s. Had they heard the song, I doubt they ever suspected they would end up in the country of origin of that song.